Effect of DnaK and DnaJ proteins deprivation on Escherichia coli response to starvation.

E. coli defects in response to nutritional starvation caused by DnaK and DnaJ proteins deprivation are examined. The ability of delta dnaKdnaJ mutant to survive carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus starvation is highly impaired while delta dnaJ mutant is characterized by the diminished survival of phosphorus starvation only. delta dnaKdnaJ mutant grows slowly utilizing maltose and glycerol and delta dnaJ mutant utilizes glycerol inefficiently. The growth on alternate nitrogen sources is comparable to wild-type strain.